“So, how did you become a part of the emperor’s personal staff?”

A part of Johnson was glad he was sent to accompany Jean. He saw this as an opportunity to take her. She seems cold and serious, but he was confident in his charm.

“It’s a long story. Short version, Emperor Mengsk saved my life.”

The two stopped by a door guarded by a squad of elite infantry units made up of marines, marauders, and medics. Maybe there was even a ghost somewhere in the shadows. Two auto turrets not only served as fire support but also as detectors.

If Jean needed to get past by force, she would suffer heavy losses, but thankfully this wouldn’t be necessary.

Johnson walked up and said something to the leading marine, and quickly the guards stepped aside and let Jean pass.

They went past four more sentry posts before entering a room full of computers. This was the control room of every piece of electronics in the defensive fleet. Right here, Jean could alter the codes of everything from the largest battlecruiser to the smallest cleaning bot.

Dozens of men and women were in front of a line of computers. They were the computer engineers of the fleet. Their sole purpose was to keep someone from doing what Jean was going to do.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t their time to shine.

“Admiral Bradley’s orders. Everybody out.”

“Yes sir.” All the guards and engineers stood up and walked out of the room. As the room was clear, the lieutenant turned to Jean.

“I’ll be outside. Call me when you’re done.”

Jean nodded and cracked a small smile. Johnson felt his heart beating harder. He grinned and walked out of the room.

As soon as she was alone, Jean’s smile disappeared. She sat down next to one of the computers and started typing.

Her original plan was to mess with some of the non-essential systems of the battlecruisers. When she was making the plan, she assumed the Dominion commander, while believing in her identity, would be more vigilant and keep some computer experts near her when she worked to make sure she was doing what she was here to do.

But the reality was different. This went much better than she imagined. The Dominion commander was misled into thinking she was on a secret mission for Mengsk, and he gave her not only total control but also total privacy. As far as she knew, she wasn’t watched.

Still, she didn’t let her guard down. Underestimating the enemy was often a one-way ticket to defeat. Perhaps Bradley gave her total privacy, and perhaps the good admiral currently has fifty computer experts watching her every move and was ready to cut her off if she did something she wasn’t supposed to.

She reached into her pocket and took out a hard drive. In reality, she swiped her hand on her watch and took out the drive from there. She stuck the drive into one of the access points on the computer.

Immediately, a program previously installed into the drive started functioning. It automatically started to cover up her tracks. As far as others could see on other devices, she was simply cruising through the endless line of codes.

This allowed Jean to do what she really came here to do.

The first system Jean messed with was the communication system. She added two switches. The first allowed her to freely access the Dominion security network. If it came to a frontal assault, the rebel fleet could hear every single one of the Dominion orders and develop countermeasures. The second allowed Jean to manually bring the communication down. Without a way to pass down orders, even the best of the Dominion Fleet would be overwhelmed by confusion.

The second thing Jean altered was the weapon system. The third was the life support system. The fourth was the engine.

The malware Jean inserted was clever but limited. It could cover up a few changes, but if Jean wanted to completely alter the codes, turn the identification of Dominion personnel into enemies, for example, there was nothing it could do. This forced Jean to be short and concise.

Finally, when she was done, Jean walked out of the room. Johnson was already waiting.

“I’m done.”

“Wow, you’re quick.” Johnson rose his eyebrows. “Where are you going now?”

“I have to report back to Emperor Mengsk at once.”

Johnson bit his lips. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a break? I’ve got a comfortable place.” He wasn’t even hiding his desire. It was now or never. If he let Jean go now, there was no telling when he could see her again.

But Jean no longer needed Johnson. Before inserting the malware, she didn’t want potential trouble, so she acted like Johnson had a chance. But now she no longer needed him to like her. After all, her job here was done.

“I should be going.”

“But…” Johnson’s mouth hung wide open, but Jean wasn’t listening to him. She needed to go now. The more time she wasted here, the more likely the mercenary fleet would be discovered. She wasn’t going to waste that precious time on sleeping with a young officer who would be dead in less than an hour.

Lieutenant Johnson leans back on a wall as the girl walked past them without a second of hesitation.

---

Inside the bridge, Admiral Bradley was walking around. He was going over what just happened once again.

Now that he had the time to think about it, he was starting to realize a couple problems.

If Mengsk wanted to establish a secret surveillance system within the fleet, it would be logical for him to order someone over here, but whoever sent here was certainly important. But as far as he could see Jean was alone. She didn’t have a single guard with her. Placing himself in Mengsk’s shoes, Bradley would’ve sent at least a squad of special forces with this Evelyn. Even if he wanted to be quiet, a few medium sized ships would work as well. There was no reason to send a single person in a single dropship over.

Jean knew about this problem, but being able to forge the identity of one person didn’t mean being able to forge that of twenty. If Jean wanted to do that, she would need to have both a medium sized Dominion ship, at least a dozen Dominion modified equipment and armors, and at least a dozen soldiers experienced enough to pose as Dominion special forces. She could find an abandoned Dominion dropship, but there was no way she could get all those listed above in just a few days.

“Officer,” He turned around and said loudly.

“Sir,”

“Send a transmission to Emperor Mengsk’s personal staff and confirm Lieutenant Evelyn’s identity.”

“But sir, we have received direct orders from Emperor Mengsk in regard to Lieutenant Evelyn. Why do we want to...”

“Follow orders.”

“Yes sir.”

The officer established contact with Dominion High Command. A few minutes later, he looked at Bradley in disbelief.

“Sir, officers from Dominion High Command say Emperor Mengsk has never sent any inspector here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I double checked. It’s true.”

“She’s a fake...wait…” Bradley suddenly realized something.

He just gave a potential rebel control of the entire fleet.

“All units on my command! Locate and arrest Lieutenant Evelyn! Computer staff, examine what Evelyn did and reverse it!”

“All ships enter battle stations!” He didn’t know who Evelyn really was and who she served, but he knew there was no way this could be good. As far as he knew, there might be an entire fleet waiting outside. He needed to get his fleet ready for combat ASAP.

He was right, only a bit too late.

“All units on my command! Locate and…”

Jean didn’t have a comm, but she was able to hear Bradley’s orders through a back door she installed in the security channel. She didn’t know what that order was exactly, but she did know Bradley sounded mad as hell. As far as she knew there was only one reason behind this.

She was compromised.

Jean wasn’t worried or intimidated. She merely tapped a key, and the entire Dominion channel was shut down. Not a single sound could be passed through. The rest of Bradley’s orders were cut off.

This should buy her enough time to get out of here. As soon as she was gone, Viper and Tosh could launch the attack.

“Sir, our communication is down.” One of the Dominion officers keenly noted.

“What...damn it!” Bradley immediately realized what happened. “Send a runner to the hangar and intercept Evelyn’s transport. Don’t let that ship take off at all cost! As long as she is still on the ship, it’s only a matter of time before we catch her.”

“Yes sir!” A marine immediately ran out of the bridge and toward the hangar. His CMC armor allowed him to go faster than normal human beings.

It took Jean ten minutes to go from the hangar to the bridge. For an armored marine it would only take around half that time.

Walking by another dozen of armed marines, Jean found herself standing right in front of the dropship she came here in. An officer walked up to her.

“Sir, how can I help you?”

“Clear the hangar for taking off.” A lot of things needed to be done for a ship to leave the hangar. For once, the battlecruiser was in space. A door would be opened up and the outer part of the hangar would be turned to a vacuum. An airtight door would make sure the rest of the hangar wouldn’t be stuck in the same situation.

“Yes sir.”

The part of the hangar Jean’s dropship was in was cleared. Most of the guards and crew members were gone. Only the officer that first talked to Jean and a few guards were left. Jean was about to enter the ship when a marine came running down the halls.

Jean rested her hand next to her sidearm.

“Stop her! She’s a spy!”

The officer turned around with a confused look, but Jean acted faster. She grabbed onto the officer’s arm with her left hand and took out her weapon with her right. While choking the officer, she pointed her handgun at the marine and fire four shots.

The marine groaned and stumbled. The handgun bullets bounced off his armor. He raised his gauss rifle. He was ordered to take Jean alive, but maimed was alive as well.

But Jean acted even quicker. She pushed the officer forward and shot him in the back before he could stand back up.

Under the cover of the collapsing man, Jean leaped into the dropship. As she shut the door of the ship, she pressed on a computer linked to the ship’s hangar door control.

Half a dozen security forces marines, all in red armor, converged upon the dropship. They took aim at once, but before they could open fire, the hanger door suddenly snapped open.

“Oh shit!” One of the marines could only make out one short scream before he was sucked out into the vacuum of space. The life support system on his CMC armor could keep him alive for a few minutes, but it merely denied the inevitable. There was no way the Dominion Fleet had the time, resource, or attention to send out a rescue party for a couple men.

Jean brought the dropship out of the hanger and away from the Dominion Fleet.

“Damn it! Shoot her!” Seeing the dropship from the window of the bridge, Admiral Bradley screamed.

But not a single shot came out. The entirety of the Dominion crew had no choice but to watch the defenseless dropship get away.

“Sir, the weapon systems are offline. We can’t fire anything!”

“Damn it!” Bradley turned to his leading computer expert. “Report. Where are you at recovering the functions?” He sent them out as soon as he could.

“The internal defensive system is untouched. The communications and the weapons are offline. What should we prioritize, sir?” The computer expert had no idea those two systems weren’t the only ones Jean dealt with. He was good, but Jean came prepared, and he was on a really tight schedule.

“Focus on the weapons. This girl is not working alone. We may be facing an attack.”

“Shall we warn New Folsom Prison?”

“Yes. Send a transport to New...wait, send a transport to inform a battlecruiser and tell it to descend to the prison. Tell them to contact the Dominion Fleet and ask for reinforcements. Also, send runners to all the battlecruisers and ask them to enter battle position.” Bradley suddenly realized none of his orders could get out of the bridge.

“We might be facing an attack.”